In 1941,when my father joined the U. S. Army, he was told that, on a written test, he had showed (36) for preparing food. Army officials offered him a course in becoming a cook. My father (37) because he thought he could (38) the battles, is things turned out, he got good (39) and became head cook of an army kitchen.
All went well 40 he had to deal with spinach (菠菜). Because spinach is good for health, the army (41) it several times per week. (42) , the soldiers refused (43) to look at spinach on their plates. After hours of cooking spinach, my father (44) that, at the end of the meal, he was throwing all of it away. To save time and effort, he decided simply to throw away the (45) vegetable before it was cooked.
One day an army officer saw the (46) spinach in the rubbish. He blamed my father, (47) that he was destroying government property (财产). (48) my father explained that he was simply (49) the army the trouble of cooking the unwanted vegetable, the army officer insisted on (50) him by taking five dollars from his pay for the next three months.
Later, one officer told him that fresh spinach was government property, but cooked spinach was not. (51) if the spinach were cooked, it (52) be thrown out. From then on, my father (53) all the spinach and then immediately (54) it into a rubbish can to keep everyone (55) . The govern-ment did not have its property thrown out, and the soldiers did not have spinach on their plates.

37（）